New to Real Estate · Pittsburgh · Member since 2021 · 2 posts · 0 votes
5y
From what I understand, they don't. Usually as long as you are making your payments they aren't going to be actively breaking your door down making sure you live there. Something that I've heard tips them off to double check is for example if you apply for more loans that also require you to live there, that would set off alarm bells.
That said of course, it is mortgage fraud if your terms require you to live there and you don't. So don't do it.
Realtor · Raleigh-Durham, NC · Member since 2018 · 324 posts · 218 votes
5y
@James G. Definitely just live in the house. For my second owner occ multi in the same town I had the bank come by 3 months in to confirm I lived in the house. It wasn't a thorough confirmation, but a confirmation nonetheless.
Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2020 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
5y
@James G., as noted, they could come by and knock. They could mail you a letter to the property, and if it shows as forwarded elsewhere, they may take a further step, like physically checking.
I would agree with Scott that it is probably highly unlikely that they will ever check, but no impossible. Then again, situations change. I bought a two family, while owning my primary. The intent truly was to move into 2 family, and I took out an owner occupant mortgage. But then, I was unable to sell my primary, and unable to find a qualified tenant to lease it, so I ended up staying put for 15 months and leasing bth units of the 2 family. No one ever contacted me asking why I was not living in the duplex.
Real Estate Broker · 3412 S. Harlem Avenue Riverside, IL 60546 · Member since 2015 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
5y
@James G. I have been working with house hack clients here in the Chicago suburbs since I got started as a broker in 2015. I have never heard of anyone being contacted even once. With that being said, I would imagine this is because my clients lived in the property, had bills sent to the property paid their mortgage.
Flipper/Rehabber · Louisville, KY · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5y
They probably aren't going to check but it wouldn't be difficult to learn that you don't if they decide to check. They don't need to physically come out and check, although I have had lenders do that do confirm vacancies, etc.
Just think of how much social media companies "know" about you. Credit bureaus know the same. Everything you do leaves a trail. Every bank account, loan application, mail forwarding, utility payments, etc, etc. combined tells the story of where you live. Just the bank doing a credit check will alert them and banks often do periodic credit checks on loans outstanding.
The last couple of times I moved, I don't even bother calling the companies I deal with to give them the new address because I know they seem to find out about it somehow and change. Not sure exactly how they find out.